A Certain Otherworldly Railgun
by Master of the Tamers
Summary: I am currently being chased, like a wild animal loose in a major city. While I am being chased? It's because of something I had done, that changed me in ways that I can't explain here. But know this, I might be on the run, but I will not hide! Instead I will fight those who're after me and get the answer I need. And hopefully find a why to undo what had happened to me.
1. Episode 0

A Certain Otherworldly Railgun:  
Episode 0

"There's the freak!" I heard someone shout, "Get it or we don't get paid!"

I clicked my tongue as the term that thug was using on me. Sure, I might be different from others, but I didn't deserve such terms being thrown at me, and I think it's about time I teach these thugs some manners.

I looked around my surrounders and grinned when I noticed how narrow the alley I was being chased in had become. I would have a bit of a problem moving around, but my small, sender body should be able to handle it. The thugs, however, were full-grown males, and their bodies were a bit on the big side. So, I figured they would have more problems moving around the alley then I would.

I skidded to a stop and faced the thugs hired to chase me like I was a weird animal. "You know, it might be easier for you boys to give up and just go home. Sure, you wouldn't get paid, but the money probably wouldn't cover the injuries would get from me."

I was trying to sound like I was being brave and arrogant; if there's one thing I know about these sort of guys, if you challenge their pride in anyways they would slip up. And low and behold, the taunts worked, and one of the guys in the group of five lunged for me.

The guy attacking me was probably the largest, and that made it a bit hard for me to dodge him as he lung for me. Thankfully, the body I'm currently in reflects and muscles were trained enough that all I needed to do was get low and pressed myself against a wall at the right moment, and the thug pasted me. I acted quickly as he went by me, and lightly chopped the back of his neck.

The blow was just a love-tip and normally wouldn't have affected someone of the thug's size, but I sent an electric charge powerful enough to knock someone his size unconscious. That did the trick; the thug fell to the ground out like a light, but otherwise unharmed.

I couldn't help but act cocky as I stepped over the thug, as I adjusted my hat and then stuck my hands into the pockets of my jacket. "So, anyone else want to try?" I asked with a slight grin.

The thugs suddenly become hesitant, no doubt rethinking the job they've been hired to carry out. Not that I would hold it against them when they saw a 5' 3'' tween just take down their largest member with a chop to the neck.

Still, their hesitation lasted a minute before another one charged me. I cocked an eyebrow when I saw him take out a stun-rod and swing it when he got close enough. I resisted the urge to shake my head as I brought up a hand and caught the rod. The thug didn't have time to be shocked by me not being affected by the electricity running through the item, as I overloaded the rod with my powers.

The overloaded rod created feedback strong enough to short out the rod and zip the thug, and he dropped the item. I made my move with the opening I just created; upper-cutting the thug as I sent a burst of my powers into him. Again, the blow wouldn't have done much damage, but I had calculated how much of my powers to send into someone that would knock them out without hurting them.

The thug dropped to the ground with a thud, and I threw a near reckless grin at the other thugs. I guess seeing me take down two of their friends so quickly caused the group to lose their nerve and they turned tail and ran. Not one thug looked back as I let them go and they disappeared around a corner.

I let out a tired sigh and looked at the thug at my feet. They would probably be a bit sore from where I hit them, but otherwise, the two should be unharmed. So, with another sigh, I dusted off my skirt, straightened up my socks and made my way to the other side of the alley.

"Truly, I found your control of those borrowed power of yours to frighten," I heard a smooth voice said with just a hint of arrogance in it, as I stepped out of the alley.

I didn't even bother to hide my loathing as I looked to my left and saw a near-middle-aged man in a cheap suit looking at a tablet-like device, leaning on a trash can.

"well, it's not my fault the guys you hired didn't know what they were getting into," I retorted, hoping I sounded arrogant enough that he wouldn't catch on how tired I was actually feeling at the moment.

The man let out an arrogant chuckle as he pushed off the can and walked closer to me. "You may put up a touch front, my dear Mikoto, but I can clearly see how tired these last phases of the project had made you."

I growl under my breath, and probably out of habit by this point, tried to zap the man in front of me. Before I could build up a charge strong enough to hurt a fly, a sharp pain exploded in the back of my head, and I lost want little energy I had built.

"I thought by now you would have realized that it was pointless to try and zap with your powers," the man scolded arrogantly.

I took a step and a half back into the alley, and that put me out of range of the device the man has that messes with my powers. The man saw this but didn't move closer, knowing full well that my powers were useless as long as he carried that electric jammer of his.

"But, if you're worried about being worn out for the last phase of the project," the man said, acting like he was talking to someone else besides me, "You have nothing to worry about."

The man looked at the device and nodded at whatever he was reading. I wanted nothing more than to rush the prick and give him a good zap. But the jammer of his would just make me sick, and I don't want a repeat of what happened a few days ago.

Once he was done with his current task, he looked at me and gave me a condescending smile.

"The last phase of our little project wouldn't begin until 24-hours after 7 tonight. That should give you plenty of time to rest and recover. After all, we can't help such an important little thing worn down because we got too eager, now can we?"

The man took a step closer and reached out his right hand. Out of fear, I took another step back and looked at his hand. There was nothing in it save for a small flash drive. I swear the man's smile grew a thousand times over as he lightly tossed the drive to me.

"That drive contains the information of where and when the last phase is to begin. It protected from hacking, and even your abilities can't get around the firewalls we put up. Any attempts would just erase the data on the drive, and I don't think you want that, my dear Mikoto."

With his goal done, the man took his leave, sparing a quick glaze at me before disappearing around the corner. I watched the space he disappeared before sighing angrily and shoving the drive into my jacket pocket. I looked around, scanning the area with my power, and once I was sure I was alone and not under watch, took out a recording device and hit record.

"To Whom may find this, this device holds the last will and thoughts of one Mikoto Misaka. If that sounds familiar to anyone, is simple actually; It's the name of a famous anime character, but it wasn't the name I was born with.  
"However, this is the name I now choose to go by as I made this log, a log of what happened to be me in the last to 96-hours and what led me to create this recording." 


	2. Sparks of Change

A Certain Otherworldly Railgun:  
Sparks of Change

I guess I got into this mess thanks to my college roommate. Dean Joseph was a true nerd; he was overweight, bright as a lighthouse bulb, and spend most of his free time reading Japanese Manga.

"OHH, YEAH!" he exclaimed excitedly. "This volume was all I hoped it would be."

I clicked my tongue but held back the retort about how he said that about every single Manga he reads. Instead, I focused on my post-grad work, I had an important paper coming up my electrical engineering major, and I didn't want to make any mistakes.

Unfortunately, Dean was making it kinda hard to concentrate, as he decided to gush about his latest piece of Japanese culture.

"I mean, I knew this volume would finish out the latest story arc, but I wasn't expecting the outcome," I heard my roommate says, and looked his way and saw him nodding. "I should truly blog my thoughts on it."

Normally, I consider myself a very patient person and can tone anyone out. Dean, however, was one of the few who could crack my armor, and the fact that I was somewhat stressed from my upcoming essay wasn't helping matters either.

"You know, if you spent as much time on your studies as you do your reading, you might not be falling so far behind," I said, trying to keep my voice as flat as possible.

Dean blow some air out of his mouth and replied in a near-playful manner, "Please, as I need to study. I have been programming since I got my first computer when I was eight."

I choose to ignore my roommate at this point and went back to work. Unfortunately, I had just opened a can of worms and got Dean going, and once he gets started there's no stopping him.

"You know, Matthews, you can stand to be a bit more passionate about something. It might actually make you more likable, and you might actually get some," Dean said, trying to sound sly and smooth, but-in my eyes-came off as corny.

I bit my tongue so I didn't bark out that I had passion, just not for something as childish as manga. Thankfully, an alarm on Dean's phone went off, and without a word grabbed his backpack and bolted out of our room.

I let out a tired sigh as I saved my work, and put my laptop into sleep mode. I grabbed my worn-denim jacket and put it on as I followed Dean out of the dorms.

This has become somewhat of a habit with my roommate, he would go out somewhere at certain times and sometimes it will be a couple of days before he would come back. This normally wouldn't bother me, but the last couple of times he had come back with bruises. And the last time he came back, it looked like he had broken ribs.

This latest development had gotten me curious, and I decided to follow him and find out what he was doing. I wouldn't deny my disappointment when he walked to the closed docks and went into it through an opening in the fencing.

Here's a little bit of the history of my hometown; it was once a good port/fishing town, but that all changed sometime during the sixties. Seems that a rather strong earthquake hit the town and while nothing was damaged to badly a report did say the area around the port has become too unstable to use.

If I remember my local history right, the town was in a few money problems at the time the port was forced to close up, and couldn't afford to do much to try and do something with the port. It would have seemed like my town was going to be forced off the map, but an up-and-coming research company had come up with a solution to the town's problems.

See, NexGen brought a piece of unused land and built their main research building here. Not only did that save the town by bringing in new jobs, but the company also supported local businesses. That kept the town going, and it wasn't long before college I now go to was built, and my town was transformed into a true college town.

But I think I'm digressing a bit and should get to the matter at hand. I watched as my roommate disappeared into the docks, and I turned around and went to head back to my dorm room. I stopped and looked back at the docks.

I know anyone hearing this would find this crazy, but I swear that I heard something calling to me, urging me forward. I tried to resist this urge, but it was simply too strong to ignore. So, it wasn't long before I found myself squeezing through the fence's opening and lightly jogging to catch up with Dean.

I didn't have to go far, as my roommate was about a building and a half down from the fence, catching his breath. I nearly shook my head at Dean's poor health, when he suddenly straightened up and looked around. This act startled me enough that I ducked behind a warehouse.

I peeked my head around the corner and watched as Dean scanned the area. I thought he spotted me but after a minute of scanning, Dean began moving into the docks again.

I waited a solid minute before following, and it wasn't long before we came to the main office building of the docks. The office was just your standard one-story building, so I wouldn't go into detail about the building itself.

I watched as Dean scanned the area again, this time for nearly two minutes before he entered the office. I watched the building for nearly two minutes, expecting him to come out with some sort of mob member. When no one came out, I decided it was time for me to investigate, and cautiously made my way into the building.

To say I was disappointed when I saw the inside of the office would have probably been an understatement. There was nothing there, say for a deck, a chair, and a phone that looked like it was made in 50th.

I looked around, feeling my disappointment gave away to confusion. There was only one exit in the entire building, and I watched it for nearly three minutes, so where did Dean go? I looked around one more time, and that's when I saw the coffee mug on the table.

I walked up to the table and leaned down to get a better look at the item. The entire table was covered in a thick layer of duck. The mug, however, was the only thing that wasn't covered.

It was like it was recently touched, and I went to pick it up. To my surprise, when I try to lift it, I found it glued firmly to the table. I tried to pull the item off the table for a good 30 seconds before I gave up, and stood up.

I studied the mug for a higher viewpoint and that's when I saw it; the dust around the mug had been disturbed. A closer look revealed the mug had been turned, just enough to move the dust around it. So I grabbed the mug's top and following how the dust was disturbed, turned the item counterclockwise.

I was surprised when I heard a soft click, and took a step back when the table swings down, soundlessly I would like to add. I looked down the passage that opened and groan when I saw the LED-lit stairway.

"I draw the line when I find something straight out an old-school cartoon," I mumbled to myself.

I turned to leave when that urge once again flared up. I turned to fight it, but like last time, it proved to be stronger, and I soon found myself descending the stairs.

It was a short trip down, and soon I found myself in some sort of hallway, one that reminded me of a research lab I once visited with my parents. In fact, it reminded me so much of that place, that I began to lightly rub my chest as I looked around the hall.

There wasn't much to say about the place; all it was, was a long, white hall and a series of doors. Above each door was a light, all of which were currently red. Curious, I walked up to the nearest door and gave the knob a turn. It was just like I thought, the red light meant that the doors were locked, and that meant it was pointless to continue to go farther.

What was the point of exploring this place when all the doors would likely be locked? That what I tried telling myself as I turned to leave this place, only to stop dead in my tracks as that feeling exploded in the back of my head again.

"I'm not going any further just because I got a feeling," I told myself angrily as I forced myself back to the stairs.

I was near the exit and the feeling in the back of my head had gotten worse. It was so bad I felt sick to my stomach. I tried to ignore it all as I placed a foot on the first step. I suddenly covered my mouth as I felt my stomach jump, and I nearly lost my lunch.

I stumbled away from the stairway and slumped against the wall to the right of the stairs. I slowly lowered myself to the ground and let my stomach settled for a few minutes.

During this time, I began to think about all of this. So whatever I was getting had gotten so strong that I can't ignore it. It appears like it wasn't going to let me go until I get to whatever was calling to me.

So, with that in mind, and with my stomach calm enough, I pushed myself up and from the wall, and walked down the hall.

I was being guided by that feeling and turned left when I came to the end of the hallway. After a short walk, came to the only door on this stretch of the hallway. To my surprise, the light above the door was green. I turned the knob and slowly opened the door. Nothing deadly came out, so I cautiously stepped into the room.

I felt my throat dry up as I looked around the large room. The entire place was lined with machines I couldn't identify. But the most startling thing was in the center of the room; a metal pedestal with nothing on it.

No, I realized that wasn't right, as I got closer I saw something weird; the air above the pedestal was rippling. I got next to the pedestal and became transfixed on this strange phenomenon.

I watched as the phenomenon rippled around, and I would have the say it was the size of a softball as I watched the ripples disappeared at the edge of the phenomenon.

As I continued to watch this strange event, I was unaware of what I was doing at the time; I was once more rubbing my chest. It didn't take me long to realize what I was doing and looked down at my chest. It was at this point I noticed how my chest felt a bit warm, and I stopped rubbing it.

I wanted to run, to get away from this weirdness I found myself in, but at this point, my own curiosity had gotten the best of me, and before I realized what I was doing, I was reaching for the transparent orb.

I don't even think my fingers lightly brushed against the orb, but I still felt the energy that jumped from the object and bit me with the force of a croc's jaw snapping shut. My entire body started to feel numb as the energy jumped from my arm and into my chest right in the spot I had been rubbing a second ago. I couldn't even scream when I felt like my head was about to explode when the energy reached it.

Suddenly, I felt something else happening; like my body was caving in on itself. I was thankful that my body was so numb at this point, or I might have blacked out from the pain. Still, what pain made it through was quite weird, if I was being honest.

If I didn't know any better, I would say it felt like my body as undergoing heavy changes in certain areas. But, I didn't know if it was the pain I was feeling that was making me think my body was changing or what.

But, I knew this I didn't like what I was feeling between my legs at the moment.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the energy retracted back into the orb. I fell to my knees and tried to catch my breath. It felt like I had just had ran a marathon after I had done twenty laps in an Olympic-size pool. Then there's the arm I touched the orb with; it was so sore I wondered if I hadn't damage it somehow.

"What was-" I gasp when I heard my voice, which sounded very odd, and somehow familiar.

Feeling was starting to return to my body, and I slowly stood up. I saw that the pedestal had gotten a bit taller, and I noticed that my body just felt plain wrong. I began looking around the room, ignoring the sound of something hitting the floor and spotted what appears to be, a locked, glass cabin.

I cautiously took walked toward it, not truly trusting my body at the moment, and when I got closer, I realized the glass door was one-sided. I ignored this weirdness and looked in it.

"Mikoto Misaka…" I muttered breathlessly.

I could probably be knocked over with a grain of rice at this moment, that was just how much shock I was in. I almost thought that I was in some kind of dream, but the numbness in my arm was a clear reminder that I was awake.

I tried to shake my shock off and studied myself a little more thoroughly. I noticed that a section of hair, mostly near a hair clip that had appeared, was still my natural black color. I also saw that if I looked really hard, I could make out a faint red tinge in my now brown eyes.

There was just enough left of my natural tan color in my skin to give it a bit of more color than I remember seeing in the anime my roommate's so obsessed with.

I took a step back and studied the outfit that my jeans, sneakers, black t-shirt and jacket had changed into. It was basically Misaka's spring/summer school outfit, and despite looking really hard, I couldn't find anything left of my old outfit.

Done with this little study session, I sighed slightly and turned away from the cabinet. I frown when I saw the items on the floor and got closer. It was around this time that I realized something; I wasn't having any trouble moving.

Now that information was very disturbing in itself. I knew the character I turned into wasn't all that developed yet, but they should be enough of a difference that I shouldn't have adjusted in such a short period.

I filed this into the back of my head and bent down to look at the items. To my surprise, the items were my cell phone and my wallet, both of which were in my jacket pockets before I changed. I guess they must have been pushed out when my jacket changed into this silly vest.

Oh well, at least I can get something else to wear besides this stupid uniform. I reached for the items with both hands, and that was a mistake. I had forgotten that my arm was still sore, and when I moved it a bolt of pain rush up it.

The pain was so sudden, I become a bit disoriented and lost my balance when I went to grab it out of habit, and I hit the pedestal. Almost immediately, an alarm began to blare, and I cursed under my breath.

"You gotta be kidding me here. I touched the thing on the pedestal and nothing happened!"

I decided not to stick around any longer and quickly grabbed my items. I may not look like the person on my IDs at the moment, but there was enough information on them that they could pose a danger to me if I just left them.

I stuffed my stuff into a skirt pocket as I made a beeline for the exit. I guess I should count myself lucky that there was no one in this place at the time, so getting out should be easy.

Or it should have been, but that hope was dashed when the door suddenly opened and I cursed under my breath again when something big stepped into the door and blocked my only way out. 


	3. Now That's Shocking

A certain Otherworldly Railgun:  
Now That's shocking

I stared at the guy that was now blocking my only way out, and couldn't help but be a little fascinated by the suit he was wearing. It looked like a strange cross between a riot suit and something straight out of a comic book; his chest was the standard issued gear. I did, however, see that the area around the chest was slightly thicker than what I saw on normal riot gear.

His boots were thick with metal plating, and the soles were two inches high. I saw that the boots stopped a few inches from the knees, but the knees themselves were covered in a guard.

I could barely see something sticking out from behind each of the boots, but I couldn't tell what they were. To top off the lower half off, there was skirting around the guy's hips, and I could see thin tubes that connected to items on the back of the boots.

Next were the gauntlets; both were mismatched, something fierce. The right gauntlet covered nearly the entire arm and ended with a shoulder plate that extended slightly past the person's ear. The left one was much shorter, ending at the elbow and was less thick than the right gauntlet.

Strangely, the head was the least projected, with a transparent blue visor covering the man's eyes. I could see the thin wire that looped around his right ear and down the back of his neck.

I was taken out of my head when the guy, Bulk, as I would now refer to him from this point on, decided to address me directly, and sounded quite bored too.

"Are you with that fatty who keeps breaking into this place? And if you are, just tell me where he is. I need to give that loser a good beatdown"

Fatty...could he be talking about my roommate? I found that weird, I follow Dean down here, so how could we be so far apart in such a short amount of time?

I didn't get a chance to think this over, as I held a small clanging sound, and watched as Bulk took a lumbering step towards me. I noticed just how slow he was moving, and figured that suit was weighing him down.

I quickly formed a plan when I realized the limits of the suit and tried an old trick I knew from watching a few anime myself.

"Well, yes" I replied, placing my hand behind my back and tilting my upper body to the right and putting on what I hoped was a cute smile. "I saw my cousin go into this place, and followed him. Do you know where I might find him?"

To hammer the lost girl act home, I let out a short, nervous giggle. I think I was more surprised by the sound than Bulk was, as he didn't respond, and took another step towards him.

If he took two more steps forward, he should create an opening big enough that I could make it past him. So, I met him halfway, while secretly preparing my body from the mad dash it was about to undertake.

One more step to go, and I bent my knees ever so slightly. He took his final step, putting us at a good two and a half feet apart, and I made my move. I broke into a sprint and aimed from his right side. Just as I hoped, he tried to reach me with his right arm, and just like I thought, he was slow due to the weight of his suit.

When I was nearly half a foot away from him, I kicked off the heel of my left foot and went wide. This should put about an extra half an inch between him and me. And if I had done my math right, Bulk wouldn't be able to turn fast enough and close the gap between us before I could run past him.

I heard a sudden hiss of air and looked to my left. to my surprise, Bulk had somehow turned fast enough to close the gap, and was in the midst of throwing a punch with his less armored arm.

Something happened at that moment; it was like my body was moving on its own. I crunched my stomach in as tight as it could go, and covered my face with my arms, just as the punch landed. Surprisingly, the blow didn't hurt as much as I thought it would.

Still, I could feel the pain go down my arms as I skidded a couple of inches back. I lowered my arms to my side and looked at Bulk. I noticed how indifferently he was looking at me as he took a step forward.

"I'm not playing games here, girl. Just tell me where your friend is, and I might let you go without reporting you to my boss."

I might have noticed that he was talking in a bored tone of voice if he condescending way of talking didn't stir something inside of me.

"Why should I tell you anything, you idiot!" I retorted.

I was surprised by my sudden outburst; I was never the one to raise my voice, even if I was angry. But something about the way the guy talked irritated me, something fierce.

Bulk, on the other hand, wasn't fazed by my outburst, and just let out an irritated sigh. He began to move his right arm, and I was surprised when I heard the hiss of air again and the gauntlet moved faster than it should. I heard the guy mumble something, and before I knew what was happening, something shot out of the gauntlet.

I felt something strike me in the chest, right below my breast line, and I looked down. I could feel my throat dry up as I realized that taser lines were now in my chest. I couldn't move as I felt the electric charge begin to flow into me.

I think I was still in shock because it took me a few seconds to realize that I wasn't in any kind of pain. In fact, if it wasn't for Bulk sudden cry I think I might have still remained in that state.

"What the-that charge is strong enough to knock a full-grown, six-foot man out!"

I looked up at Bulk and saw that he was doing something with his visor. Seeing him distracted like that, knocked me fully back to my senses, and decided to use this moment to get out of here.

I yanked the wires from my chest and made a mad dash for the exit. Bulk recovered quicker than I would have liked, but in the end, it was enough to close the gap and run by him. I heard the hiss of air again, but since I knew what that meant, I was ready this time.

I lowered myself just a hair and kicked off with my heels. That move was enough to push pass Bulk and all he hit with his close-line was air.

"Come back here, you little snot!" I ignored the guy's screams as I ran out of the room, and down the hall.

I ran as fast as my new body would allow, hoping to get out of here before anyone else shows up. I suddenly heard a noise behind me and dared a look over a shoulder. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised but I was when I saw Bulk chasing after me. I was thankful that his suit weighed him down enough that it would take a while for him to catch up to me.

I heard the faint hiss of air, and I felt my dread form into a pit in my stomach when I saw him close the gap by a good six inches.

It was around this time that I started to put the pieces together, and realize how Bulk was able to move in the way he does. I think his suit uses some sort of hydraulic system, that would explain the hisses of air I keep hearing. The system was probably in place to make up for the bulk of the suit weighing it's user down.

But there wasn't something clicking with this theory. If the suit did use hydraulics to move faster, then how is it still moving so fast? Something that size must nearly use an entire canister to move as Bulk has been. So, if he used it four-no, five times that sound I just heard meant anything, then how is he catching up to me?

I gave my head a quick shake and looked forward. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about a piece of hardware, no matter how impressive it was, not when my life was in danger.

Damnit, I swore internally, I don't remember the hallway being this long when I came down it. Could it be that I was so out of it earlier that I didn't realize just how long it actually was? I gave my head another shake, to get rid of these thoughts, and focus on just keeping out of Bulk's reach.

I nearly smiled when I saw the turn coming, but didn't slow down. Bulk had just air-jetted himself closer to me, and this new body of mine may be more fit than my old one, but my lungs were starting to burn from how hard I was pushing it, just to keep myself out of my chaser's reach.

I gave my head a quick shake for the third time in less than a minute and focused on the turn coming up. I would need to make this turn as sharp as possible, so I wouldn't lose any speed. I wasn't all that confident in pulling this stunt off, even with this body's physical power. I was just too uncoordinated for such a stunt.

Still, I didn't slow down as the turn came up and I turned left. I gasped as I felt my right foot slip from under me, and I fell towards the floor. I tried to reach from the corner of the wall, trying to grab it as it went by me.

I felt like cursing when I saw my fingers miss by a hair, and gasped when I felt something jump from my fingertips. I let out a short cry as I was suddenly pulled to the wall and my entire hand slammed onto the metal surface.

I gawk at my hand, completely lost as to what just happened. If I didn't know any better I would almost say that electricity came out of my fingers just now. But that should be impossible, right?

"YOU!" an angry voice shouted, knocking me out of my head.

I didn't look at Bulk, as I quickly took my hand off the wall and took off down the hall. Let's just hope that he's bulky suit would make it hard for him to make that turn. I heard the jettison of air a second later and dared a look over my shoulder.

I was grinding my teeth when I saw the guard had made the turn but at the least, the stunt had put a little more distance between him and me. I figured if I keep at my current pace I should barely keep myself out of his reach and I should be able to make it to the exit.

Now, let's just hope that suit's bulk would make it a bit hard for him to fit through the exit.

I looked forward and nearly grinned when I saw the exit coming up. I pushed my new body just a little harder when I heard the jettison of air.

"GAHHH!" I suddenly screamed when something caught my legs and I found myself falling to the ground.

I managed to brace myself well enough that I didn't suffer any complexations, but the wind was still knocked out of my body and felt my head spin a little. I managed to shake off my disorientation and looked behind me.

I don't believe it, Bulk had used his head and tripped me up by using his taser line. I might have been impressed with this line of thinking if he wasn't suddenly on top of me, and looking like he wanted to tear me limb from limb.

"Alright, you stupid washboard, time to sing," Bulk said angrily, and he reached for me.

I didn't even notice the less-armored arm reaching for me; my entire mind was focused on what he just called me.

The word washboard kept repeating in my head, and each time I heard it I could feel my blood getting warm, to the point it started to boil. I also could feel something building inside of me, and when I heard that word repeat for the 12th time, something inside of me snapped.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, and electricity exploded from my body.

I could feel my electricity travel through Bulk's taser line and attack his suit's internal systems. He began to say something but was cut off when certain parts of his suit began to spark, and then smoke. I watched as small explosions began to occur around the suit, and couldn't help but wince slightly when I noticed parts of Bulk's visor smoking.

He said one final word before he fell over. The faint sound of a metallic thud brought me back to my senses fully, and I looked at Bulk. I quickly saw the state the guard was in and decided to go over to him, albeit cautiously.

I could see the guard's chest rising and falling against his gear, and a quick check of his pulse proved a steady breathing and heart rate. A sudden moan from the guy reminded me what kind of mass I was in, and I decided it was time for me to bolt.

As I quickly ran out of this secret area, one thought managed to linger in the back of my mind; did I just shoot lightning? 


	4. More Questions, Still No Answers

A certain Otherworldly Railgun:  
More Questions, Still No Answers

I ran as fast as my new body could carry me, which, I found, was pretty far. I had reached the outskirts of the old docks in less than five minutes, which was saying something. Still, I didn't stop until I was near the town's limits.

Slightly winded from my run, I hunched over as I caught my breath. I kept my eyes on the trail I ran, half expecting someone to be following me. I relaxed slightly as I saw that I was in the clear.

As I felt my mind and heart settling, I returned to that event just a few minutes ago. I know I wasn't seeing things, and if I remembered right, the character I turned into can control electricity. And it looks like I now can too.

I looked at my hands and tried to recall that feeling from earlier. My eyes widened as I watched the sparks begin to dance around my hands. I snapped my fingers and watched as the electricity jumped from them.

I began to experiment and I quickly learned the ins and outs of my newfound powers. I found it weird, when I put some thought into, that the more I use the powers the more control I felt myself gain.

It was like my body was instinctively learning how to control my new powers the more I used them. I wonder if that had to do with the character I turned into?

I might have continued to play-I mean experiment with my powers if a strong and chilling wind hadn't blown my way. I shivered as I quickly hugged my body and tried to keep myself warm.

"I'm f-fr-freezing," I stumbled slightly, as I began to rub my bare arms.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I was wearing a summer uniform in the late fall. So, with that in mind, I made my way into town and headed to the local clothing department.

All I had planned on getting was a pair of pants and a jacket, but once I went over to the tween section, I quickly found myself looking for an outfit that I could only describe as cute. I think I looked for a good twenty minutes until I found a set of clothing that matched my new sense of style (and not to mention ones that fit my new body), and brought them. Now, I'm in the dressing room changing into my new clothes...or I was until I spotted something that caught my attention.

And if you think I'm looking at these on my chest, you would be dead wrong. No, the thing I was staring at was an old scar above my breasts. If you're wondering about the scar, it was from a surgery I had when I was around eight-year-old.

I don't remember much about the surgery or the accident for that matter, but something else about the scar was bothering me the more I looked at it. The scar seemed a bit bigger than when I last saw it, and a bit more jagged.

If anything, it reminded me of how the scar looked when I first got it.

I continued to study my scar, feeling just a bit crept out by its sudden growth. I suddenly gasped as something clicked in the back of my mind, and realized something; the bolt that changed me hit me right in my car!

"Hmm, could that somehow be related?" I asked curiously, tracing the scar with a finger.

I shook my head and giggled out of how silly I was being. This wasn't one of these silly anime; the fact that the bolt hit me in my car was just a random coincidence.

With that settled, I changed into my new outfit, and couldn't help but be impressed with what I saw. I had gone with a pair of thigh-high, woe sock dyed black, and a pair of lavender runners. I wore a denim skirt with indigo straps running down its sides and a purple long sleeve shirt.

The neck of the shirt was a bit on the wide side, exposing more of my new "items" than I cared for. However, the indigo letterman jacket was more than enough to solve that little problem.

After finishing changing, I carefully folded my school uniform and put it into the purple backpack I brought and left the dressing room. I was halfway to the exit when I spied an accessory rack and stopped to window-shop.

About the only thing on the rack was a complete set of what were called "buddy swaps". I heard a couple of girls talking about them; basically, the accessories were just metal things like bracelets, necklaces, and pins. The hook was that the parts were interchangeable. That would allow couples, friends, and others to swap out pieces for personal looks.

I stared at the items, feeling like they were cute and that they would look even cuter with my outfit.

I quickly decided I was being silly, shopping around like some girl looking for a new look, and was about to take my leave.

After all, I could barely shrug off how awkward I felt in this skirt. I didn't need anything else to add to that feeling.

Unfortunately, I didn't even get a single step in before the urge overtook me again, and before I knew what was going on, I was at the desk, buying an entire set of Buddy Swap. I couldn't help but sigh tiredly as I slipped on the bracelet, necklace and fix the ball cap with a pin sewn in it on my head.

I really should address this sudden obsession with cute things soon, but I had more pressing matters to take care of first.

I guess I should consider this lucky; it was a Sunday afternoon, so most others in my dorm were either out socializing, or doing last-minute catch-up work. That made it easy to sneak into the building and make my way to my room.

I really didn't want to explain why a pre-teen girl was in a male dorm at this hour. Still, I had a few close calls when walking to my dorm room. Thankfully, it was just a bunch of doped-up dorm mates, so I was easily able to dodge them and hide from them when needed.

Soon, I found myself inside my dorm, and I wasn't all too surprised to find it still empty. With a light sigh, I took a seat on my bed and ignored just how awkward it felt as I tried to figure out my next move.

There was no telling when Dean would get back, so I decided to try out my body's powers once more, now that I was in a familiar place. Inhaling with my nose and exhaling through my mouth, closed my eyes, and focused on my surroundings.

I was studying electronic engineering, so I knew that even a turned-off device still has a current going through it. And thanks to Dean's constant going-on, I knew that the character I turned into, can sense stuff like that.

I thought it wasn't going to work, but I was really surprised when it did, and I could sense every piece of equipment in my room. From things like the lamps to my computer, I could feel the energy going through them.

Hmm…that's weird, I felt a current that was just looping around and around. If there was a current that wasn't coming from a source, that meant it was a self-contained power source, possibly from a battery.

And it was coming from under Dean's bed if I knew the layout of my own room right.

I opened my eyes and pushed off my bed. I made the short walk to my roommate's bed, and got down on my hands and knees, making an effort to ensure my butt was covered. I lifted off the pale brown sheets and wasn't all too surprised to find a lockbox with an electric lock on it.

I found that weird, that my roommate would have something like this, and feel the need to hide whatever was inside. Now, I wouldn't say I wasn't curious about what was inside, but I would be lying.

Plus, I wanted to try something. So, I placed a hand on the lock and focused on the electricity flowing through the device. Since this lock was electric, the code was stored in a digital memory bank. So, in theory, I should be able to tick the lock into entering the code, and...bingo.

"I really don't know what I was expecting, Dean," I muttered, slightly disappointed in the contents of the lockbox. "But a datasheet is so you."

I was about to close it when I noticed the time on the datasheet was roughly the time that the earthquake happened. Also, the fact that the NexGen logo was on the paper got me curious.

So, I returned to my bed and began reading what appears to be a long history/data log.

It turns out, it was that orb that caused the earthquake all these years ago when it came into the world. Also, the damage wasn't all great, unlike what was reported; NexGen just used that as a ruse to set up their buildings so they could study the orb.

The reason for the ruse was because it seems like similar events happening around the world, meaning they could be more than one orb out there.

But, the reports said that was the only theory at this point, so I filed that piece of info into the back of my mind, and continued reading the datasheet.

What followed next was a condensed report of over forty years worth of research data. Most of it went over my head, but I did learn that the orb seemed to be able to do something that was labeled as "dimensional-phasing" whatever that meant.

Really, the science the report was talking about was so over my head, I was ready to toss the printout sheet back into the lockbox. I was in the process of doing so when something caught my attention.

"James Matthews...DAD?!"

I could feel my throat drying up as I looked at my father's name listed as the top surgeon for some sort of experiment. To make matters even more confusing was the date stamped in the corner...the date just shortly after my accident!

It was a good thing I was sitting down, I could feel my entire body shaking as I looked at the printout. I knew that dad worked for NexGen when I was young, but he told me he was part of the medical staff.

"What does this mean?" I asked myself as I turned the page...and was mad at what I saw.

There were pages missing; the time stamp on the next page was dated six years after the last page's stamp. That was around the time dad left NexGen and took a position as the head surgeon at the local hospital.

What does all of this mean, I felt like asking myself as I got ready to tear my room apart to find those missing pages.

"Who the hell are you?" I had a very familiar voice ask pointedly.

Startled, I looked towards the door and saw Dean glaring at me. I had my head titled just enough that he couldn't see my face clearly, or else, I don't think he would be looking at me the way he was. Still, I couldn't stop a strange feeling from building within me, and before I knew what happened, I let out a small noise followed by a strong bolt of electricity.

Dean barely had time to make a noise before my electricity hit him, square in the face. I watched as his body convulsed for a second, and he moaned painfully as he dropped to the ground.

I blinked as I came back to my senses, and winced once I saw the state my roommate was in. I quickly went over to him and checked his pulse. Good, his heart was still beating good and I could see his breathing was studied.

With that danger over, I checked to see if anyone saw the light show and closed the door when it looked like the coast was clear.

Seems, though my understanding of electricity, and the instincts of my borrowed body, I knocked Dean out for roughly ten minutes. During that time, I decided to tie Dean up, just in case something went wrong, and he tried to attack me again.

Plus, I wasn't comfortable with hitting him with another bolt in case he tried anything funny.

That happened over 20 minutes ago, and I now had spent the last time minutes grilling him, mostly about the missing data.

"Look, Matthews, I don't know what you want from me," Dean said pointedly. "The data was like that when I stole it."

I could feel a low growl threatening to escape my throat, but pushed the noise down. This has been going on for at least 10 minutes, and added fuel to the fire was that it took me five minutes to convince my roommate of who I truly am. But now, he was being so dodgy, it was starting to make me mad.

So mad, in fact, I could feel sparks starting to fly.

Deciding that a change of gears might work, I took off my cap and took a set across from Dean. I tried to put on an easy smile as I asked the next question.

"Say, Dean, why were you sneaking into the lab?"

I was hoping that seeing one of his favorite characters smiling at him would break down what walls he just put on at the moment. I thought that my tactic wasn't going to work, but then I noticed a look in my roommate's eyes. I think he was breaking, and to hammer anything home, I gave him a slightly bigger smile, which caused him to blush slightly.

It was at this time I realized what that look my roommate had been giving me, and it made me feel a bit uncomfortable. But, I didn't look away, in fear of him claiming up and not giving me anything.

"If you had read further, you would have learned that the orb phasing powers can reach to 2-dimensional spaces," Dean said, his tone was softer, but his word was still slightly pointed. "Like cartoons...or anime."

Two-dimensional space… this was starting to make sense, but there were still pieces missing. So, I urged Dean to continue.

My roommate gave me a glare but went on.

"They theorized that someone with a high emotional connection to the product could be used to create a link between the space and our world," Dean glared at me, and I finally realized what was making me so uncomfortable. "AND YET THEY SAID I WAS TOO EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE TO EVEN TRY THE EXPERIMENT! ME, THE BIGGEST RAILGUN FAN IN THIS TIME DEAD-BEAT TOWN, AND THEY LET YOU TURN INTO MISAKA?!"

I was speechless; I knew Dean was a bit of an emotional guy, but I never thought him to be unstable. Though, this entire exchange proves that I didn't know Dean as well as I thought.

Still, this didn't help me, not in the way I was hoping. But there's still one person I could talk to who might be able to shed some light about my dad's role in this strange scenario.

I stood up and went about gathering my stuff. I spotted the bookshelf where Dean keeps his manga collection and a wicked idea took root. I shot my roommate a delish grin, as I grabbed my pack and walked over to the shelf. I took out my school uniform and began to grab books by the handful.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Dean asked angrily.

"Don't worry," I replied sweetly, "I'm just borrowing them. I promise I will take good care of them."

Dean began to rant and rave about how much trouble it was to get the seventh vol of the series as I finished packing. I used my power to zip on my bag as I sling it over my shoulder and looked at Dean. He looked at me wide-eyed as I walked past him and gave him a two-finger salute. I used that gesture to grab my hat with my powers and put it on.

Dean was shocked speechless by this little display and walked to the exit. I think he snapped out of his stupor when he saw me check to see if anyone was coming.

"Hey! You can't leave me tired up here!" Dean screamed as I walked out the door. "Hey, Mitch. MITCH! MISAKA!"

I grinned to myself as I walked down the hall. I was laughing on the inside at my own joke. I actually tied the knots very loosely. All Dean needed to do was wangle a little and should be able to free himself.

I giggled a little as I wished I could see the look on my roommate's face. Still, I had a more pressing matter and I headed to the classroom of the campus's science professor, the only person who might be able to give me the answers to everything I have been learning of late. 


End file.
